Wissahickon School District adds to school calendar due to Hurricane Sandy

WISSAHICKON — It appears Hurricane Sandy’s forced cancellation of school in the Wissahickon School District was not enough for the state to excuse the days missed, as officials say the district will follow the current calendar procedure for inclement weather.

Superintendent Judith Clark said during the Nov. 26 school board meeting Gov. Tom Corbett is waiting until after the winter season to make a decision on whether to excuse the days missed due to Sandy because snow and other inclement weather may force schools to close again.

The district is now left to account for those four missed days, which includes using the two days built into the calendar for winter weather and a third make-up day will be Feb. 15. Currently, Feb. 15 is an in-service day for teachers but will now be converted to a student day. June 20 will now become the last day of school.

“I’m going to tell the board right now I am very concerned,” Clark said. “It seems like this is our year for weather, and if we have a couple of snow days, the year is going to be prolonged into the 23rd and 24th of June, which is getting very late.

She said depending on future school closings, there are potential options that can be implemented. She also said the board should treat this year differently from those in the past.

Board member Marjorie Brown asked if spring break could be taken away to make up for the days missed, and Clark said it could.

“Spring break has been problematic, I’m going to be honest,” Clark said. She recalled a time when former Superintendent Stanley Durtan made spring break a five-day weekend and the community was strongly opposed to the decision, forcing Durtan to go back to the full week off.

Brown said her decision-making process is what’s in the best interest of students, and she said once the year goes past Memorial Day, the amount of student learning is “a point of diminishing returns.” She suggested maybe the calendar should be looked at to see if it’s still a “valid principle” to cancel spring break so as not to push the school year into late June.

Board member Seth Grant said he didn’t like the idea because many families schedule college visits during that time and it would be difficult to make up the lost opportunities.

Brown said she understood, but the same could be said for the families who take vacation during June that would have to adjust their schedules. Either way, someone will end up unhappy, she said.

In other business, student representative Kitty Hennessy said the Wissahickon High School robotics teams set a world record by achieving its 100th win recently.

“Needless to say, the team has high hopes for the season,” Hennessy said.